I never thought I would ever post about my skin problems online, but I am sick and tired of my whitehead/acne problem and don’t know what else to do.

Throughout high school, I don't remember stressing over acne because I didn't have a lot of it. After graduating, I started to get these whiteheads, mainly under my nose. I didn’t worry about them because they were minor and people told me that they go away with time. After about a year, it started to get really bad and I ALWAYS got the whiteheads under my nose and above my lip area, which is embarrassing because people can clearly see it there. I don’t know why the whiteheads showed up under my nose for 95% of the time, but I have found nothing online to help me. One day I also realized that I had these whiteheads in my scalp because I felt them when I was scratching my head. I cut my head bald over the summer to take a picture of my scalp and that picture is below. I also have a lot of body acne, but to be honest, I just want to effectively treat the ones in my face first, before I start worrying about my chest and back.

I used to NEVER use moisturizers and cleansers in my high school days but over the last year or so, I have used so many types, but none of them have had good effects. I did not use any cleanser or moisturizers over the past winter because these whiteheads/acne tend to come up less when I didn’t use them in cold weather. My skin did get very dry and flaky, but I didn’t care as long as no whiteheads showed up. I am now 23 years old and don’t know if there is a solution of this problem.

Now that it is getting warm again, the whiteheads are starting to show up a LOT. I guess I have to start using moisturizers and cleansers again, but I don’t know how much they will help. I have attached a picture of my cheek below. I took that picture today and it is 89 degrees outside. I do not even know if my acne is mild, moderate or severe. Because of this, I am even embarrassed to talk and meet new people and have lost confidence in myself.

Almost definitely folliculitis. I would first suggest washing all affected areas with an anti-dandruff shampoo. Put it on, then leave it on for 5-10 minutes. Wash it all off, do it for week and if it improves, it's probably fungal. Itching supports the fungal idea.

If it doesn't improve, it could be bacterial folliculitis. I say this because you mention a number of lesions appearing beneath your nose. Your nose is home to many bacteria that can overgrow, such as staphylococcus and streptococcus species. You could either try an antibiotic like doxycycline or wash affected areas with some sort of antibacterial compound. The regimen posted on this site might work - but I would tweak it a little. Wash with an antibacterial soap, apply benzoyl peroxide, 2x daily. Again, I would only move to this step if you rule out the possibility of fungal folliculitis.

If neither treatments work, you can look into more complex causes and solutions.

I used to love the smell of Noxema when I was younger, but it didn't agree with my face.

I would suggest buying raw black soap to use as your facial cleanser. You can buy it on Amazon or from some local markets. It is inexpensive, lasts a long time, and does not have chemicals to irritate your face. I would also recommend using glycolic acid at night. If you're here in the US, Dan's is great. I recommend it before trying stronger medications because the black soap will help with some of the oil issues.

Try cutting out food groups one at a time to see how it affects your acne. Try cutting out dairy for a month or two. If that has no affect, try cutting back on your processed sugar as much as possible. Because you have acne in different parts of your body, your body may not be processing certain foods correctly and causing an internal issue to become external.

Lastly, remember that who you are on the inside comes through more than what you look like on the outside. Deal with your acne as best you can and go on. Do things daily to make yourself feel better about yourself that do not involve acne.

I never thought I would ever post about my skin problems online, but I am sick and tired of my whitehead/acne problem and don’t know what else to do.

Throughout high school, I don't remember stressing over acne because I didn't have a lot of it. After graduating, I started to get these whiteheads, mainly under my nose. I didn’t worry about them because they were minor and people told me that they go away with time. After about a year, it started to get really bad and I ALWAYS got the whiteheads under my nose and above my lip area, which is embarrassing because people can clearly see it there. I don’t know why the whiteheads showed up under my nose for 95% of the time, but I have found nothing online to help me. One day I also realized that I had these whiteheads in my scalp because I felt them when I was scratching my head. I cut my head bald over the summer to take a picture of my scalp and that picture is below. I also have a lot of body acne, but to be honest, I just want to effectively treat the ones in my face first, before I start worrying about my chest and back.

I used to NEVER use moisturizers and cleansers in my high school days but over the last year or so, I have used so many types, but none of them have had good effects. I did not use any cleanser or moisturizers over the past winter because these whiteheads/acne tend to come up less when I didn’t use them in cold weather. My skin did get very dry and flaky, but I didn’t care as long as no whiteheads showed up. I am now 23 years old and don’t know if there is a solution of this problem.

Now that it is getting warm again, the whiteheads are starting to show up a LOT. I guess I have to start using moisturizers and cleansers again, but I don’t know how much they will help. I have attached a picture of my cheek below. I took that picture today and it is 89 degrees outside. I do not even know if my acne is mild, moderate or severe. Because of this, I am even embarrassed to talk and meet new people and have lost confidence in myself.

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!

Almost definitely folliculitis. I would first suggest washing all affected areas with an anti-dandruff shampoo. Put it on, then leave it on for 5-10 minutes. Wash it all off, do it for week and if it improves, it's probably fungal. Itching supports the fungal idea.

If it doesn't improve, it could be bacterial folliculitis. I say this because you mention a number of lesions appearing beneath your nose. Your nose is home to many bacteria that can overgrow, such as staphylococcus and streptococcus species. You could either try an antibiotic like doxycycline or wash affected areas with some sort of antibacterial compound. The regimen posted on this site might work - but I would tweak it a little. Wash with an antibacterial soap, apply benzoyl peroxide, 2x daily. Again, I would only move to this step if you rule out the possibility of fungal folliculitis.

If neither treatments work, you can look into more complex causes and solutions.

Zinc oxide can be used in ointments, creams, and lotions to protect against sunburn and other damage to the skin caused by ultraviolet light (see sunscreen). It is the broadest spectrum UVA and UVB reflector that is approved for use as a sunscreen by the FDA,[58] and is completely photostable.[59] When used as an ingredient in sunscreen, zinc oxide sits on the skin’s surface and is not absorbed into the skin, and blocks both UVA (320–400 nm) and UVB (280–320 nm) rays of ultraviolet light. Because zinc oxide (and the other most common physical sunscreen, titanium dioxide) are not absorbed into the skin, they are nonirritating, nonallergenic, and non-comedogenic.[60]